


Mobius

by straylights



Category: Grey Eyes - Fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 16:29:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14265057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/straylights/pseuds/straylights
Summary: “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.”





	1. Valentine

**Author's Note:**

> “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.”

The clock torments him.

He paced the hallway. The corridor was dark, and he almost missed the hustle and bustle of the hospital. Nurses scurrying around with their patients. Children bringing in their merriment. It hasn’t been like that since the war started and he grieved that more than anything else. Even though the bloody war has ended, he only welcomed people who are half-dead inside. Hollow faced, battered soldiers accompanied by their equally weary wives and children who was too afraid to even squeak. If they are alive, that is.

From the grim despair, the medical community gave birth to the operation _Mobius_.

Blank slate, it means. It became a worldwide phenomenon. Designed initially to cure depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, it goes beyond curing the symptoms. It allows doctors to insert themselves into the interactive compilation of the patient’s memories and traverse backwards through their lives via mementos. And later on, a group of professionals called Collectors were assembled to engage with this delicate profession.

With every leap, every memory dissected, they learn more of the patient and what had brought him to his position in life, to his current despair. Afterwards they will deconstruct the memory, engineer a beautiful story in its stead. Patients young and old, rich and poor of various ranks and positions had benefitted from the treatment. Even the Prime Minister had engaged with them, and he sat in his office a composed man, one not haunted by past mistakes. It allowed for people to actually heal and move on.

And Richard River couldn’t fathom why anyone would refused this miracle to have their life back.

“Doctor River.”

He stood up quickly to see another fellow doctor approaching him and he waited anxiously for her to speak. His heart ran erratically, as it always does after every operation. “Rosalind,” he smiled weakly. “Has anything changed?”

The fair-haired doctor bit her lips and shook her head. His heart plummeted yet again and he sat on the floor, both hands on his head, groaning in frustration. Rosalind had always maintained a certain air around her, but she found herself sliding down beside him. They were quiet for a few seconds until she spoke again.

“He’s resisting us,” she sighed, her blue eyes watery. “We tried everything. But Collector Palatine was kicked into consciousness, and the patient won’t wake up.”

River brushed his dark red hair aback. It wasn’t their fault, really. They had assembled the best team of doctors and Collectors, yet they have continuously failed. Excruciatingly so.

How do you wake up the Sleeping Beauty if she doesn’t want to be woken up?

“And Brigadier General Augustine is here.” She was almost afraid to say it, but he has to know. “He’s in the Colonel’s room. Was there when Collector Palatine was forcefully woken up.”

He’s gonna die tonight. River knew it. “That’s the end, Rosalind.” He said, his voice breaking. “We have tried everything under the sun. All the best doctors and Collectors have failed. Might as well get my affairs in order before Augustine shoots me in the head.”

“River,” Rosalind said softly. “We haven’t done everything.”

He looked at her hope emanating from him.

“Valentine. We haven’t used Valentine.”

His hopes crashed like a building block. “Never,” he hissed. “How could you even suggest that? She’s malfunctioned. We agreed when we broke contact that we will never even mention him!”

“River!” she shrieked. “That is before we have to put our lives on the line. Valentine is unconventional, but her method has worked before. And you know that if it wasn’t for...” she paused. “If it wasn’t for the incident in lab, she would have been okay. She was one of us.”

River moaned in distress. “Rosa…”

“I don’t want to die, River,” she blinked back tears. Angrily, she wiped them with her sleeve. “I don’t want to die. Even if Valentine fails, at the least it’s more time for us to find a way to escape. Call her.”

Rosalind hold his hand in hers, her eyes filled with hope. He couldn’t deny her that.

For the first time in 5 years, he called Valentine.


	2. The Wanderer

“I have always figured that if I leave you to your devices, one day I will be at my office, receiving a call from the Hospital Amestris that they have finally succeeded,” the Brigadier General said calmly, staring into the havoc in front of him. River winced. They didn’t even bother cleaning up after Collector Palatine. “That was a spectacular failure I would have to say.”

“Sir…we…”

He stood up in all his glory and walked towards the bed of the patient, watching as the young man in front of him took quiet breaths, assisted by the oxygen mask.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t shoot you and get another doctor in place.”

River held his head up high. If he dies now, he will not be remembered as the coward that tries to flee.

“Because if Doctor River dies, you will lose any hope of getting me to function.”

Both men turned sharply towards the door where Rosalind stood with a young woman with long, deep red hair. Her emerald green eyes were fixated on both men in the room, and a lazy smile was formed in her face.

“Who are you?” Augustine frowned. River had almost forgotten him at the shock of seeing his old acquaintance again. She came, he thought.

“Collector Valentine,” she half-bowed. “The best there is out there.”

Augustine doesn’t seem impressed. He walked towards the red head and gave her a once over. “Why were you late?” he spat. “Shall I have River’s head for this?”

“Entirely my fault, unfortunately, much as I want that,” she gave a little laugh. “Was at the Caribbean lounging in the sun.  didn’t notice that River here had sent to me a whole bunch of letters requesting I go back. Shall we begin now?”

“You aren’t prepped yet….” River said, shocked. It took a week to be prepped. While Valentine is a senior in the field, even she requires the standard procedure to procure her own safety.

“Do it,” Augustine snarled. “Or I will shoot you both in the head now.”

Valentine nodded at him before moving towards the bed. She sat at the edge and looked at the pale face of the patient. His blond hair lay limply by his face, and the rest of his feature hidden by the device.

“Colonel Noah Joseph Ainsworth,” River said dazedly. He had almost memorized the whole script, trying to find a way to wake up the patient. “Battalion Alpha. 23, single. He had been in service in Drachma for the last 5 years, and rose in ranks quickly due to good performance and admirable courage in the war.” He paused, allowing Valentine to absorb the information. “After he came back, he suffered from PTSD, and instead of getting help, he indulged in…vices. He was found in his apartment by a friend, passed out from drug overdose and brought here from thereon. We treated his infirmities, so there is no lasting physical damage.”

“So, the damage is all in the head,” Valentine said easily. “Go on. Has his friends and families came by?”

“Nathan and Mina Ainsworth died from an accident 13 years ago. No other family recorded on paper. No official romantic interests, though he has been receiving a steady stream of people coming to visit. He responded marginally when his battalion came by, but it was of little significant and hasn’t been repeated afterwards.”

“Did he not receive any benefits post war?”

Augustine interrupted before River could open his mouth. “He received all the standard benefit that the military provided. Also included was an award, pay raise and a promotion.” He looked at the unconscious Colonel. “He is to be promoted General.”

And suddenly it all clicked. “You needed his service.”

“He’s an exceptional soldier with unparalleled courage,” he said in a hard tone. “I don’t expect mere Collectors to understand the value of courage.”

But I’m not the scaredy cat too afraid to wake up now, she thought to herself. “I’ve heard enough,” she announced and unbuttoned his jacket. “Hook me up, River.”

She lied down on the atrocious bed next to her patient, gazing at the ceiling. “Valentine?” River murmured. She turned to the side to hear the doctor better. “Be safe.”

Her heart constricted painfully until he remembered that his failure is the death sentence of the doctors.

She opened the vault.


End file.
